Reviews by Dirtinabottle:

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I have passed this beer up sooooo many times just hoping I will one day find a fresh bottle to enjoy. Finally the time has come and I am severely impressed by this ipa ! I honestly can not think of a much better example of the style . . . This may be my new standard for an American ipa. Along with the likes of Racer 5, Two Hearted, Columbus and Anti-Hero. Alesmith ipa is beautiful in appearance. Aromas are floral and tropical. Feel is smooth and creamy with substance. Taste is hoppy but not over the top so much it will burn you up after a couple. Overall, possibly the perfect example.

Nice, golden-orange color with a magnificent 4 finger+ head and spotty lacing. Aromas of fresh squeezed orange are abundant, and also some hints of grapefruit, light pineapple and hops. Taste is so balanced with tastes of orange juice, light citrus peel and hoppy bitterness. Finish is, once again, very balanced, crisp and has a great feel of hop bite at the end...

A- Dark orange body out of the light. But in the light, the body color is a nice honey, yellow color. It is on the hazy side, but I do not notice any sediment in the beer. The head is 2 finger, frothy, and bright-white in color. Head died to a nice 1 finger in size. It is leaving some very nice lacing. Great looking west coast style IPA> But as of lately, I'm really fond of the New England "hazy" IPA/Pale Ale look.

S- Lots of pineapple and sweet bready malts. I also get the typical grapefruits in there as well. I detect some caramel notes as well. Light notes of pine and leather. Pretty standard west coast IPA, but good.

T- This is how a good west coast IPA should taste. It's fairly balanced between the hop notes and the malty taste. I notice that compared to New England style IPAs that this has a darker, caramel malt, kind of taste. Upfront I get the pineapple and grapefruit notes. Light pine notes and some oily, resinous notes. Slightly dank towards the end, but I'd say Alesmith IPA finishes fairly clean. It's not overly dry.

F- The body is medium in feel. It's crisp, clean, and pretty refreshing. This doesn't quite drink like citrus juice in the way some New England style IPAs do, but I'd say the drinkability is quite high on this.

Overall this is a great tasting west coast IPA. It's not too bitter at all. And it's not super, super dank. I can't stand an IPA or Imperial IPA that is way too hoppy and dank. It's almost undrinkable to me. This is really well balanced between the malts and hops. I tend to like the IPA's that are on the citrus juice side of the mouthfeel, but this a great IPA I would never hesitate to drink when I'm in the mood for this style.

I got this pretty fresh on the East Coast. Thankfully, it’s now dated. April 3, 2013.

It pours in a hazy golden orange color with a head that quickly dissipates.

The aroma has a huge amount of hops of citrus. Sweetness, tropical fruit, West Coast pine.

The flavor hits you with a wonderful bitterness of papaya, peaches, grapefruit, tropical fruits, and then biscuit sweetness. Then the finish has a wonderful big pine flavor.

In the end, this is up there for me for IPAs. I have this near Maine Co. Lunch. It’s just an amazing IPA. It’s truly a complete beer with its tropical and pine hops, but then that strong malt. Be sure to have this cold, as this warmed up, it slowly lacked flavor and was a bit malty for me. Having it cold, I noticed more aroma and fruit, and just the complexity that this beer as to offer.

A rather well balanced IPA...not exactly what I expected from a SD brewery but pleasant nonetheless (although I certainly don't object to hop bombs!). The bready maltiness actually dominates on both the nose and tongue for me. The fruity and bitter elements from the hops are there but pretty subtle when compared to a lot of other west coast IPAs. This is a real quality brew, but, considering the cost, I'm not sure I'll come back to it anytime soon....a couple more bucks will get me a sixer of some other great stuff.

Bottling date 11/27/15 drink date 1/29/16
I gotta say, even for the significant age of this ipa, it's certainly my favorite.
It was a bit hazy, amber/gold. About a fingers worth of head. A good looking beet for sure.
Slight citrus not on the nose, but pine is definitely more at the forefront along with the malts.
The taste is similar and spectacular. It has a great deal of piney bitterness, but iy is SO well balanced by the malt, not too overwhelming, but definitely not too sweet.
It felt like a craft soda, small bubbles for a silky mouthfeel. It was damn- near chuggable.
Overall, it speaks well of the west coast style. It's sure to satisfy.

Classic, silk-screened white lettering on a dark brown 'bomber' bottle. This is my first AleSmith beer and I'm expecting great things.

Slightly hazed, orangish peach that should become significantly more clouded on subsequent pours as the yeast find their way into the glass. The head is light toffee in color and is stiff, sticky and pitting. There's plenty of lace already and the cap has just begun to recede. Ultimately, the glass is coated with a huge amount of thick, chunky lace in rings and sheets.

The aroma is 'hop heaven'. Loads of citrusy hops are atomizing themselves purely for my olfactroy enjoyment and I couldn't be happier. Clouds of orange peel and grapefruit peel essence--along with fresh pine--fill the room. I can't imagine that this aroma could be improved upon.

The flavor is, in a word... fabulous. Massive quantities of citric hops must have been used in the brewing and it shows. In fact, AleSmith IPA strikes me as a 'tweener', a beer that occupies that fuzzy zone between the IPA and DIPA styles in terms of flavor, hoppiness and ABV. The initial impression is of a solid wall of juicy hops rolling across the tongue, followed by a glimmer of toasted malt that tries vainly, but ultimately in vain, to stand up to the resinous hop attack.

That's not to say that the flavor profile is overbalanced toward the hops, just that they're clearly in charge and both parties know it. The malt provides the sweet, cake-like underpinnings that allow the hops to run rampant and assault the tastebuds with some (minor) degree of restraint. A balancing act par excellence. I think it's pretty apparent by now that I truly love this beer, but let's continue.

The finish is a never-ending sweetsticky symphony of hops; again, tempered by the ever-present, but never intrusive, toasty caramel malt. The body is big, but not huge. This is no Dreadnaught, but I can't think of an IPA that has a creamier, silkier, smoother, bigger body. The alcohol is hidden exceedingly well. It's only evident in a slight warming (in my stomach and in my soul) as the bomber disappears.

Quality, quality, quality. AleSmith IPA is neck-and-neck with my favorite IPA/DIPAs so that any differences in score are trivial at best. It isn't available in this state, but it is available on-line so that I have a ready supply if I so choose. And believe me, I choose in a big way. If you love IPAs and haven't yet had AleSmith's inspired version, it's worth whatever effort and expense that is required.

Thanks to garagekegger for sharing his bomber with me,poured a slightly hazy light amber with a nice one finger head,aromas of course are intensly hoppy very piney and citrusy.This is a bold tasting IPA very resiny and piney along with lemon rind but there is a firm somewhat nutty malt backbone that is very noticable.A damn fine IPA loaded with flavor damn I want more!

Full, rich, luxurious body is the color of soft copper. Clear and brilliant with healthy lacing the lasts long after the thick ivory subsides. Memorable green hop aroma that also contains plenty of citrus ranging from sweet, ripened navel oranges to bitter grapefruits. Flavor has a wonderful caramel malt quality that is surprisingly balancing towards the pine/citrus bitterness and yeasty fruitiness. Balance is key here. Everything I want in an IPA can be found but damn this one is drinkable, it feels good, its beautiful just an all around winner.

I cant wait to get some more of this when in Ohio in two weeks. Hopefully Ill be able to stock up.

A: Amber colored, slightly hazy due to bottle conditioning. A 3 cm white head that leaves plenty of chunky lacings as it settles. Decent retention and great looking lacings.

S: Very pronounced citric character - lemon and grapefruit abound. Plenty of floral hops and hop resins as well. Some caramel and subdued malts. Slightly spicy. The hop aromas are really outstandning and so fresh they almosts stings the nose.

T: Wonderful hop character here as well. Grapefruit and lemon peel dominate. Faint notes of mango. The malty caramel flavor is quite big but still obviously plays second violin with the hops taking center stage. Some spices in the middle. The finish is rather bitter, but the bitterness is really integrated in the overall profile. It finishes with floral hops, pine-needles and again a slightly spicy sensation. The finish is long. No sign of the alcohol.

M: Medium body, not very crisp. The carbonation level in this one is close to perfect. Medium amount of small and rather calm bubbles - it really suits the beer well.

D: A great IPA. Perhaps not very complex, but very well balanced and with a beautiful hop character of lemon and grapefruit. It goes down really easy and I would definitely have another if it was offered to me.

Fantastic beer from Alesmith. I had a bottle on 10/24 that was bottled on 10/2. Very fresh.

It pours a dark copper, very transparent and not murky at all. It tasted extremely refreshing. The bitterness was perfectly blended with some sweet citrusy notes. It smells as good as it tastes, too. This is easily one of the more "complete" IPAs that I have had. I don't have a single complaint about it. I think it is very well done and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys IPAs and DIPAs